5 Fast-Fix Weeknight Dinners Your Family Will Love

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Jennifer

Jennifer Segal is the chef behindOnce Upon a Chef, a family-friendly recipe website featuring tested and perfected recipes with step-by-step photos.

1. Broiled Asian-Style Flat Iron Steak (pictured above) — Flat iron steak is one of my favorite cuts of beef for home cooking. It’s similar to flank or skirt steak, only more tender — in fact, after the tenderloin, it’s the second most tender cut. Plus, it’s inexpensive. Here, it’s simply broiled and topped with a rich Asian-style brown sauce. With buttered rice and a steamed vegetable, it’s an easy and elegant dinner that you can have on the table in under 30 minutes.

2. Spicy Chicken Thighs with Sweet & Tangy Honey Glaze — This wonderful recipe was inspired by one of the most popular Cooking Light chicken recipes. Chicken thighs are seasoned with garlic, chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika, and then broiled with a sweet and tangy honey glaze. Delicious, family-friendly (it’s not too spicy), and incredibly easy to prepare!

3. Blackened Tilapia — This is one of my favorite fish recipes, and it’s super quick and easy. Mild tilapia fillets are dusted with a bold Cajun spice rub, then sautéed in olive oil until crisp and flavorful on the exterior and tender and flaky within. Serve with a vegetable rice pilaf and dinner is done!

4. Chicken Curry — In this family-friendly Indian dish, thinly sliced chicken breasts are sautéed with curry powder and simmered in an aromatic, slightly sweet curry sauce thickened with Greek yogurt. You can have it on the table in 30 minutes — or in the time it takes to make some basmati rice — and the cooking method ensures that the chicken comes out reliably tender every time.

5. Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp — In this quick and easy recipe — adapted from The Splendid Table’s How To Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift — jumbo shrimp are bathed in a brine flavored with salt, sugar and chili powder, and then sautéed with loads of fresh ginger and garlic. It’s a delicious and flavorful dish that appeals to kids and adults alike.